Tell Me Lies

by Michelle Lindo-Rice

  “I’m loving this,” Sydney said.

  “Today, I urge you to create your own spiritual to-do list. What are three things you can do to increase your spiritual walk? If there is an area in your life you struggle with? Come up with three ways you can improve. Can you love more? Can you forgive more? Do you need to pray more? Name it. Set your goals. Do it.”

  Sydney clapped her hands as the announcer wrapped up.

  “I’m going to take you up on that challenge.” She shook her head with wonder. Then she snapped her fingers. “I almost forgot, I have something for you.”

  He raised a brow.

  Sydney went over to the mantle to grab the blue, shiny gift bag. “This is for you,” she said.

  “Oh, Baby, thank you.” He kissed her cheek. “I love it.”

  “How do you know that?” she chuckled. “Open it first!”

  He pulled out the medium-sized box and tore off the wrapper. Then he extricated the foam padding. Inside, there was a Swarovski silver crystal dolphin.

  Noah’s jaw dropped. He held it close, inspecting every crevice. “Where did you get this? This is so thoughtful of you. It’s a fine piece of handiwork.” He spoke in a hushed whisper. “I have a collection at home but I need a special place for this.”

  He has a collection? Sydney felt even more pleased with her gift, hearing that. “Read the inscription.”

  Noah lifted it in his line of vision to read the words on the gold plate. “To Noah. God made you a fisher of man.” His blue eyes met hers. “I can’t tell you what this means to me. I’ll treasure it, always.” He deposited it gently next to him before reaching over to kiss her on the lips. “I know just the place for it. I’ll put it in my office at church. Every time I look at it, I’ll think of you.”

  She basked under his sweet words. Sydney touched his chest. “I’m glad you like it. You’re an anointed preacher and man of God. I’m honored to have you in my life.”

  Noah shifted. “Wherever I am at this moment, whatever I have accomplished, I can honestly give God all the credit.” He stood. “I’m going to get the rest of the takeout.”

  “Bring me back a bottled water,” she said.

  With a nod, Noah strolled into the kitchen.

  Sydney thought of when Noah mentioned giving God the credit for all his accomplishments. She became curious about Noah’s past. “Noah, may I ask you a personal question?”

  “Anything.” Noah assured her when he returned. He dug out the last of the lo mein.

  “I know it is audacious, but I’m curious how you can afford your convertible and your designer suits. Does the church pay you that well?”

  “I don’t accept a large income from the church. Truthfully, I prefer to spread God’s word for free, but the church is most insistent on supporting me. Whatever material possessions I have, I bought with my own money. Sometimes, I donate the money the church gives me to charity or to help others.”

  “But how do you afford this when the ministry is your only job?” Sydney knew she was prying, but she had to know.

  “I have my own money from my trust fund,” Noah said. “My parents’ death brought me financial security for life, but I’d give anything to have them here with me.”

  “I’m sorry. I had no idea that’s how you came into your fortune.” She reached for his hands.

  Noah cleared his throat. “Yes, and I’d give it all up to have them here with me. I’m glad you asked because I need to tell you the whole truth about my past. I was pretty messed up for a while. I did some things I regret, before God transformed my life.

  Sydney nodded. Her voiced was laced with sympathy. “We’ve all done regretful things, Noah.”

  Noah nodded. “Yes, that may be true, but some are more regretful than others.”

  “Yes, but that’s the past. Look where you are now. You were on the air preaching the word, winning souls for Christ. I’m confident God has an even bigger plan for you.”

  “I need you to listen to me,” he said drawing closer to her. “There’s something I must tell you.” Noah’s cell phone rang and he paused to look at it. “Let me see who’s calling.” He reached into his pocket for his phone. “It’s my grandfather. I’ve got to take this.” Noah answered the call. “Gramps? Gramps?”

  “What’s the matter with Gramps?” Sydney asked.

  Noah cupped the phone, “I can hardly hear him?’ His voice rose. “Gramps. Answer me. Are you okay?”

  Sydney grabbed her purse. “Let’s go,” she said, shoving her feet into a pair of slippers.

  They jumped into Noah’s car.

  Noah gripped the wheel. “Lord, please. Let Gramps be all right. I’m casting him into Your hands.” His lips were pressed close and his chest heaved.

  Sydney clutched her heart and whispered the 23rd Psalm. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want …”

  Noah had suffered so much hurt in his life. His grandfather was all he had.

  “God, keep Noah strong,” she prayed internally. “Be his anchor.”

  Noah made it to his home in about seven minutes.

  He left the car door open and sped up the path to his house. Sydney got out and closed both doors of the vehicle. She looked down and her eyes widened. She was wearing slippers. Sydney moved to pop the trunk to retrieve her extra pair of shoes when it struck her that this was not her car. “Get yourself together, Sydney,” she said and ventured into the house. She squared her shoulders, not sure what she’d face inside.

  Sydney walked through the front door and gravitated toward the kitchen. She heard Noah and Gramps’ voices. She furrowed her brows. Gramps sounded pretty strong for someone possibly having a heart attack. Then she heard a moan, which sounded like a dog. Sydney rounded the corner.

  Her knees buckled with relief before she cupped her mouth.

  Scurvy.

  Noah’s face was scrunched and his brows knitted. “Are you kidding me?” he railed. “Gramps, you scared me out of my mind! I bet you he ate something and now he’s paying for it.”

  “Scurvy? You all right little fella?” Gramps asked. He knelt beside Scurvy, stroking his fur.

  Noah stared at Sydney. “Can you believe this? I thought Gramps was …”

  Sydney fell to her knees besides Gramps and patted him on the back. “We should take him to the vet. How long has he been like this?”

  “A couple hours. He’s in agony. I thought it would pass or something but …” Gramps clenched his jaw.

  She gave Noah a pointed look.

  Noah bent and lifted the dog into his strong arms. “He’ll be okay. Let’s go to the pet emergency room.”

  Following behind the men, Sydney cooed, “Gramps, Scurvy is stronger than you think.”

  By this time, Noah was by Gramps’ truck. He held Scurvy, with drool all over his arms, and laid him with care in his grandfather’s truck. Gramps had secured a blanket on the seat.

  Noah assured his grandfather. “Scurvy will be fine. He’s ornery enough to outlive us all.” Noah jumped into the truck. He looked at Sydney. “There isn’t enough room in the truck for you. Do you want to drive my car home?”

  Sydney shook her head. “I’ll wait here until you get back. I’m concerned about Scurvy.”

  Noah nodded.

  Gramps hoisted himself into the passenger side of the truck. His voice held a tremor. “I hope the little guy will make it.

  Scurvy’s bowels chose to release a noxious odor at that time, which propelled Noah to put the truck in gear and get moving. As he backed out the driveway, Noah said, “Seeing you standing there waiting for me seems right.”

  Sydney lifted a brow. “I think that’s the nicest compliment a man has ever paid me.”

  “There’ll be more coming,” he said and blew her a kiss.

  Just then, a flood of emotions choked her with their intensity. Sydney inhaled and clutched her chest. Her heart tripped, did several back flips, and moved her from like right into love. She exhaled in staccato breaths. She was in
love.

  It was only when she locked the front door that Sydney remembered Noah had something to tell her. She shrugged. Whatever it was, it couldn’t top her news. She was in love.

  29

  Sydney helped herself to a glass of orange juice. She wandered into the living room. She went over to the wall unit and peered close. There was a wide range of dolphins of varied colors and sizes. This must be Noah’s collection.

  Next, she checked out the DVD collection in the wall unit. She spotted DVDs of Noah’s sermons from his church in Texas. She put one in the DVD player.

  Her first thought when he first came into view was that Noah was incredibly gorgeous. His blue eyes made her insides turn to mush. Sydney was psyched. A man who could have his pick of women of all races, ages and sizes, chose her.

  “Today, I’m going to talk to you from the love chapter,” Noah said.

  Sydney felt goose bumps. Of all the DVDs, she pulled one on love. “All right, God. What are you saying?” She snuggled deeper into the couch to listen.

  “Loves bears all things and endures all things. Jesus did that when He took our sins unto Himself. If you’re thinking about marriage, you have to be able to bear and endure. These two words are the key ingredients and backbone in any union.”

  “Amen,” she said.

  Noah looked into the camera. Sydney leaned forward.

  “Now you may be sitting there wondering how I can speak about marriage when I’ve never been married. Here’s my response. I’ve never been married, but I have a plan. When I find the one, and there is ‘one’ woman for me, I’m going to bear her in my arms. I’m going to endure the weight of all her pain and burdens, as Christ did for me. I trust God will sustain our love through anything, everything and all things. I’ll get married only once, and for a lifetime. Hey, for all I know she could be sitting on a couch watching this on a DVD and hearing me utter these words of prophecy,” Noah said.

  The crowd burst into spontaneous applause with women jumping to their feet.

  Sydney stopped the tape with Noah’s face frozen on the screen. She was sitting on a couch in his house looking at the screen.

  It seemed ridiculous, but Sydney felt Noah spoke through the television to her. He’d spoken those humorous words, years ago, for her to hear today.

  She was going to marry Noah Charleston. God had shown her the husband He’d been preparing all these years for her. Sydney was as sure as she was about her heart-shaped birthmark on her right hip.

  “Lord, You work in mysterious ways,” Sydney whispered in the quiet of the room.

  Then God spoke to her through thoughts. If she was going to love Noah, she was going to have to bear and endure some things. She didn’t know what things. God remained silent on that. Sydney hoped she had the strength when the time came and that she’d remember this certainty she felt at this moment.

  She remembered her spiritual to-do list. She needed to make one. If she were going to be Noah’s wife, she had to improve her walk with Christ.

  Sydney found a notepad in the kitchen drawer and a pen. She bit on the tip of the pen. What would she focus on?

  The answer was easy. Forgiveness.

  Sydney wrote her goal on the first line. To forgive those who have wronged me.

  “I don’t know why this is such a struggle for me.” She chewed on the cap while she thought.

  Aha! She knew what to do. She’d write the names down of people she needed to forgive. She’d put it up to God in prayer. She could add or delete if the situation called for it.

  She placed three names on the sheet in her neat handwriting. She’d store the paper in her Bible.

  1.Lance

  2.Curtis

  3.Mom

  She crossed out her mother. She and Janine were good.

  She thought of Lance and Curtis’ betrayal and looked heavenward. “God, I have to ask, how much is too much to forgive?”

  30

  Noah and Gramps trudged in at about two a.m. They took their shoes off at the door. Noah turned on the light and looked around.

  His eyes widened. “Sydney cleaned up. The house looks immaculate. She cleaned up all of Scurvy’s mess.”

  “Lemons,” Gramps said. “The house smells like lemons.”

  Noah sniffed the air. “What a wonderfully considerate thing to do.”

  Gramps yawned. “Let me get Scurvy settled in his cot.” He stared at Noah. “She’s a keeper. Time for you to tell her.”

  He pinned his grandfather with a look. “I was about to when you called.”

  “Humph. I wonder what the excuse will be next time.” Gramps wandered off.

  Noah placed both hands on his hips. Was he making excuses? He shook his head. Unless it was divine intervention. Maybe God was telling him to wait.

  Or, maybe you’re being a coward.

  Noah acknowledged he was having second thoughts. He was afraid to lose Sydney. He wanted, no needed, her to be in love with him first. But would her love cover his sinful past?

  He was too tired to figure this out. His bed called. Noah meandered into the living area in search for Sydney. She was not there.

  Noah checked everywhere before entering his room.

  He stopped short.

  Sydney was curled into his bed, sound asleep, her body contorted in a position unique to women. Sydney was where she should be, in his bed.

  Pity he couldn’t join her.

  He decided not to wake her. Noah shuffled into the spare bedroom, which sported a full-sized bed. Too tired to shower, he removed his clothes and plopped on top of the covers. His feet hung over the edge. Sleep claimed him before he finished his nightly prayer.

  The next morning, both Gramps and Noah followed their noses into the kitchen. He smelled coffee and biscuits. His stomach growled.

  Sydney had made pancakes, eggs, and turkey bacon. Both men observed Sydney in the kitchen, and then looked at each other and smiled.

  “I could get use to this real quick,” Gramps said.

  Noah rushed to freshen up before heading into the kitchen. He kissed Sydney on the cheek. “Hello, beautiful,” he said, before grabbing a piece of turkey bacon.

  Sydney greeted them and gestured for them to take a seat at the table. She proceeded to serve them huge platters of food.

  Noah noticed a vase of sunflowers on their otherwise stark table. He reached to touch one. The sunflowers—a woman’s touch—were what they had been missing in this house.

  Gramps blushed as Sydney gave him a fat kiss on the cheek. Scurvy was still resting on his cot, but Noah saw there was a clean bowl of water by his side. It was just too much.

  “Sydney,” Noah called out.

  Sydney puttered around the kitchen and didn’t hear his call.

  “Sydney,” Noah called again.

  She turned to face him, wearing one of his t-shirts and drawstring shorts with those cute fuzzy slippers of hers. Noah cleared his throat.

  “Sydney Richardson, I know we haven’t been dating that long, and you’re probably going to think I’m crazy. But, I’ve got to tell you know how I feel.”

  He left his food and walked over to Sydney. Then he took her hands in his. “I don’t know how it happened so fast but from the moment I saw you, I must have started falling. Sydney, what I’m trying to say is, I’m in love with you. I love you so much, I can hardly bear it right now.”

  Sydney’s mouth hung agape.

  Gramps dutifully ate his breakfast, as if Noah talked about the weather instead of love.

  Noah continued, “I can’t endure this life without you. I want you to be my wife.” Holding her hand, Noah placed his fingers over her lips. He reached on top of the refrigerator to get the twist tie from the bread. Fashioning it into a ring, he got on one knee, “Sydney, will you marry me?”

  “Did you say love, bear, and endure?” she said, fidgeting with his t-shirt. “It’s a sign. A confirmation. I thought last night was a figment of my imagination or maybe I ate too much …”
r />   Noah furrowed his brow. “You’re rambling. I don’t know what you’re saying, but I’m still waiting on an answer to my question. Will you marry me?”

  Gramps plopped his fork on his plate interrupting the moment. He was red-faced. He gave Noah a searing look before leaving the room.

  Noah turned back to Sydney.

  Sydney didn’t appear to notice Gramps agitation.

  She touched her chest. “My heart’s racing. This is a whirlwind romance, but I’m sure of how I feel.” Noah’s heart smiled at her bright face. Sydney’s head bobbed up and down. Then she uttered the words he needed to hear. “Yes. Yes. I’ll marry you.”

  “Hallelujah!” Noah wrapped her “engagement ring” on her ring finger. “I’ll get you the real thing, soon, I promise.” He kissed her tenderly. He felt wetness on their faces and realized they were his tears. He wiped both eyes before breaking the kiss.

  Sydney eyes shone. “I love my ring, Noah.”

  Noah cracked up. Only Sydney would look at a twist tie with such devotion. “I hope that means you love me, too?”

  Sydney laughed, kissing Noah all over his face. “I love you! I love you. I love you.”

  Her alarm went off. It was a workday. Noah and Sydney didn’t want the moment to end. “Let’s play hooky,” they both stated at the same time.

  “How does one play hooky from God?” Sydney teased.

  “I’m not playing hooky from God. I’m playing hooky from the rest of the people. Today is our day.”

  31

  “Don’t think I missed that look you gave me.” Noah addressed Gramps at breakfast the next morning. The two men ate toasted bagels with cream cheese.

  “Big difference from yesterday’s fanfare isn’t it?” Gramps noted, spreading his hands at the paltry food spread before them. He took a huge bite of his bagel. A big dollop of cheese fell on his shirt. Gramps used his finger to wipe it before licking it off his fingers.